On a jet-plane. Shared my ultrasound with a Canadian Pregnant woman. Access to an ultrasound is not possible when there is no free market. She was fascinated [Annette Boswroth, Facebook post, 2013.09.29].

The young mother from Canada was fascinated that such technology existed ... Big government reduces the drive for innovation & competition found in our free market [Annette Bosworth, another Facebook post, 2013.09.29].

Typical republican who cannot tell the truth. Very common in America and especially here in South Dakota. Of course I am not saying that all republicans lie, I am merely saying that they all do. The higher up the food chain, the bigger the whoppers with these guys and gals. The chicken little's of our time that really are making the sky fall down around our shoulders. A perfect world for them and their masters.

We need to create a practical litmus test (if only for fun) to distinguish a real, functional, and honest campaign from what appears to be a scheme for personal financial and commercial gain. My first suggestion for the test would be to question rather the campaign website was first employed to introduce the candidate and their message, or was it first employed to promote a singular page effort to raise capital.

And while we're at it...that "core strategy" is hardly a Replubicrat exclusive. How about the guy who told me I could keep my insurance if I liked it? I got a letter yesterday telling me it was gone at the end of the year.

My take is that letting politicans mess with important things is a lot like letting the developmently disabled handle explosives: you better keep a close watch on them or you're gonna have problems!

Humana. I have no idea. My health profile has not changed (In fact, rather good for Geezer who will be 70 next week) I am fully capable of managing my own affairs and not kindly disposed towards those who want to meddle in them-of either party.

Hmm... sorry to be snoopy, but is this Medicare supplemental insurance?

We might need more information to determine whether you should be cranky at the President who said you could keep your coverage or at the insurance bean-counters who are choosing not to do business with you.

Cranky really doesn't give enough information to respond. Cranky, of course, if he is 70 as he states, would not be covered under Obamacare, so it seems he really doesn't have a clue what he's talking about.

My experience is more typical. My employer sent me a letter that my employer-based health insurance was more than adequate to meet the requirements of the Affordable Care Act. I will probably go to the healthcare.com website just to compare. Since my HMO is a big supporter of Obamacare, I expect they have made their plans on the exchange competitive on the individual market, but whether they would beat my group policy, I doubt. Still, it's worth a look, but I can wait several weeks before my company has open enrollment.

Good old John Thune gave a speech today where he said that he talked to a company who said they might not hire as much due to the ACA. Of course he didn't give a name of the company and the reporters didn't ask...and of course they only thought it would cost them more.

Old Thunytoons is at it again. Thune offers no details, gives vague notions about what he alleges someone said. Hey, I talk to businesses every day and none of them have mentioned Obamacare as any part of hiring decisions. I'd like to know who that clown is Thune is referencing, because he's clearly not a good businessman.

It was a Medicare Advantage plan. The Feds have been telling us for most of last three years that they would kill these plans (Mostly as a sop to AARP which supported ACA) and sure enough, for once, they were telling the truth! I am annoyed, even though I knew this was coming, because I feel like it is an un-warranted intrusion in my affairs. I took the time to find this insurance at a reasonable price on my own and was quite satisfied with it. ACA (Additional Codswallop Again) will affect all of us in one way or another. You got to admit, it is making for more interesting political news!

It's hard to tell if Cranky really doesn't have a clue, or if he's being ingenuous. Medicare Advantage is written one year at a time, and is really not Medicare, but private insurance subsidized by Medicare. Unlike Medicare, it is written differently every year by a number of different health insurers. It must include, at minimum, coverage that is similar to Medicare or better. Most are far better, and include dental insurance and other add ons that the people on Medicare don't receive. Because too much of the subsidies were going to prop up the high profits and salaries of private health insurers, the ACA decided to reign in some of that corporate welfare that health insurers were getting.

The truth is Humana didn't decided to drop Cranky. It wrote health insurance on him for one year, and there is no guarantee that it will continue to write insurance for him or anyone else in subsequent years. Read the fine print on your policy. When you decide to purchase Medicare Advantage that is the chance you take.

Did it really take Dan Lederman seven sessions to realize he was failing at balancing family life and political life? Or did he just need to mouth a graceful exit from South Dakota political interloping so he can concentrate on the real fun in Iowa, where he lives his business life? After the Legislature gaveled out today, Senator […]

I agree with Superintendent Mitchell that the Rapid City Area School’s proposed five-year, $6-million-per-year opt-out is necessary for maintaining Rapid City School programs. Three arch conservative groups do not: Less than a week after the Rapid City Area Schools board decides to opt out, three groups vow to put the issue to a public vote; and […]

The Libertarian National Committee met in Phoenix this weekend to discuss their plans for 2016. LNC at-large representative Bill Redpath urged the committee to budget $20,000 to support re-establishing the South Dakota Libertarian Party’s official status. Mr. Redpath also reported to the LNC (starting at about 30:20 in this video) on Senate Bill 69, the “bad ballot access law,” […]

Mr. Ehrisman finds his fellow food and beverage professionals at the Sanford events center in Sioux Falls hindered in hustling for tips: As I purchased a malt beverage at the bar, I asked the bartender where the tip jar was, they told me they had to ‘hide it’. They also made a colorful comment about Denny Sanford. I […]

I love Harney Peak. I’ve been to South Dakota’s highest point maybe a dozen times. Every time at the the top, with friends, with my eager and sturdy six-year-old, or by myself, is a thrill. Particularly thrilling was a hike when I climbed through evening clouds, looked down from the top deck of the fire tower, and […]

Ready to help refer Senate Bill 69 and Senate Bill 177 to a public vote? I sure am! Here are the petition forms and my handy guide to petitioning: SB 69 (petition reform) SB 177 (youth minimum wage) Cory’s Petition Circulation Guide Feel free to print and share as many copies of these petitions as you wish. But […]

On November 20, 2013, I reported that Joop Bollen had run an unlicensed bank and dodged the bank franchise tax in the course of South Dakota’s EB-5 visa investment program. On September 9, 2014, Brown County Commissioner Tom Fischbach persuaded his fellow commissioners to formally request that the South Dakota Division of Banking investigate the possibility […]

I made a fair effort to use the state’s new Real Wage Calculator to demonstrate how much purchasing power teachers sacrifice to stay in South Dakota. Now Jodi Schwan points out that I probably need to thrwo those numbers out completely. Schwan’s Sunday feature is a gentle conversation with Governor’s Office of Economic Development honcho Pat Costello, […]

Dr. Tim Mitchell superintends a school district with a student body the size of the entire town of Pierre and a staff (teachers, sweepers, everybody) the size of Volga or Webster. As he discussed the Rapid City Area Schools’ property-tax opt-out yesterday at the Black Hills Forum and Press Club, he acknowledged that state law forbids him from […]

I dispute the assertion of my blogospheric counterweight Mr. Powers that President Obama and the EPA are waging a “war on coal.” However, even if we ascribed some truth to that oversimplifying slogan, remember that Catholics gave us the just war theory. “War on coal” assumes that coal is somehow a fuel source without sin that we should burn freely […]

P&R MiscellanyYou're In Control...Or Are You?: While we're on the topic of freedom and the political/social left's inability to tolerate it, let's go to that forum I sometimes frequent and its ads.The last one I talked about was the…

Prairie PerspectiveRemembering the great Tony O: Fifty years ago this spring, one of the greatest hitters in baseball history was in full swing.Tony Oliva had taken the baseball world by storm in 1964, hitting .323 to win the American League batting…

Dakota Today** Spring must be here after all: I heard a meadowlark this morning. I think that is the first for this year. Some years they get here at a good time for weather even if it is a bit chilly this year. But about 30 years ago, meadowlark…